s计划奥巴马：我们为什么要上学(中英文对照)

2020年12月13日发(作者：吕恩谊)

Hello, everybody! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. All right, eve
rybody go aheadand have a seat. How is everybody doing today?
(Applause.) How about Tim Spicer?
(Applause.) I am here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Vir
ginia. And we’vegot students tuning in from all across America, from kinderga
rten through 12th grade. And Iam just so glad that all could join us today. An
d I want to thank Wakefield for being such anoutstanding host. Give yoursel
ves a big round of applause. (Applause.)
大家好！谢谢你们。谢谢你们。谢 谢你们大家。好，大家请就坐。你们今天都好吗？（掌声）
蒂姆·斯派塞（Tim Spicer）好吗 ？（掌声）我现在与弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿郡韦克菲尔德高中
的学生们在一起。美国各地从小学预备班到中学 12年级的学生正在收听收看。我很高兴大
家今天都能参与。我还要感谢韦克菲尔德高中出色的组织安排 。请为你们自己热烈鼓掌。（掌
声）
I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of
you inkindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a n
ew school, so it’sunderstandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there ar
e some seniors out there who arefeeling pretty good right now -- (applause)
-- with just one more year to go. And no matterwhat grade you’re in, some of
you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could’vestayed in bed
just a little bit longer this morning.
我知道，今天是你们很多人开学 的日子。对于进入小学预备班、初中或高中的学生，今天是
你们来到新学校的第一天，心里可能有点紧张 ，这是可以理解的。我能想象有些毕业班学生
现在感觉很不错——（掌声）——还有一年就毕业了。不论 在哪个年级，你们有些人可能希
望暑假更长一点，今天早上还能多睡一小会儿。
I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived overseas. I lived in In
donesia for a fewyears. And my mother, she didn’t have the money to send m
e where all the American kids wentto school, but she thought it was important
for me to keep up with an American education. Soshe decided to teach me e
xtra lessons herself, Monday through Friday. But because she had togo to wor
k, the only time she could do it was at 4:30 in the morning.
我了解这种感觉。我小时候，我们家生活在海外。我在印 度尼西亚住了几年。我妈妈没有钱
送我上其他美国孩子上的学校，但她认为必须让我接受美式教育。因此 ，她决定从周一到周
五自己给我补课。不过她还要上班，所以只能在清晨四点半给我上课。
Now, as you might imagine, I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A
nd a lot of times,I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever
I’d complain, my mother wouldjust give me one of those looks and she’d sa
y, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.” (Laughter.)
你们可以想见，我不太情愿那么早起床。有很多次，我趴 在餐桌上就睡着了。但每当我抱怨
的时候，我妈妈都会那样地看我一眼，然后说：“小子，这对我也并不 轻松。”（笑声）
So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m
here todaybecause I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here
because I want to talk withyou about your education and what’s expected of
all of you in this new school year.
我知道你们有些人还在适应开学后的生活。但我今天来到这里是因为有重要的事情要和你们
说。我来这里是要和你们谈谈你们的教育问题，以及在这个新学年对你们所有人的期望。
Now, I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked about resp
onsibility a lot.
我做过很多次有关教育问题的演讲。我多次谈到过责任问题。
I’ve talked about teachers’ responsibility for inspiring students and pushing y
ou to learn.
我谈到过教师激励学生并督促他们学习的责任。
I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on tra
ck, and you getyour homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in fr
ont of the TV or with the Xbox.
我谈到过家长的责任，要确保你们走正路，完成 家庭作业，不要整天坐在电视前或玩Xbox
游戏。
I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high stan
dards, andsupporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that
aren’t working, wherestudents aren’t getting the opportunities that they des
erve.
我多次谈到过政府的 责任，要制定高标准，支持教师和校长的工作，彻底改善不能为学生提
供应有机会的、教育质量差的学校 。
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the mo
st supportiveparents, the best schools in the world -- and none of it will make
a difference, none of it willmatter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities,
unless you show up to those schools, unlessyou pay attention to those teach
ers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents andother adults and p
ut in the hard work it takes to succeed. That’s what I want to focus ontoday: t
he responsibility each of you has for your education.
然而，即使我们拥有最敬业的教师 ，最尽力的家长和全世界最好的学校——如果你们大家不
履行你们的责任，不到校上课，不专心听讲，不 听家长、祖父祖母和其他大人的话，不付出
取得成功所必须的勤奋努力，那么这一切都毫无用处，都无关 紧要。这就是我今天讲话的重
点：你们每个人对自己的教育应尽的责任。
I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one o
f you hassomething that you’re good at. Every single one of you has somethin
g to offer. And you have aresponsibility to yourself to discover what that is. T
hat’s the opportunity an education canprovide.
我首先要讲讲你们对自己应尽的责任。你们每个人都有自己的长处。你们每个 人都能做出自
己的贡献。你们对自己应尽的责任是发现自己的能力所在。而教育能够提供这样的机会。
Maybe you could be a great writer -- maybe even good enough to write a boo
k or articles in anewspaper -- but you might not know it until you write that E
nglish paper -- that English classpaper that’s assigned to you. Maybe you coul
d be an innovator or an inventor -- maybe evengood enough to come up with
the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine -- but you mightnot know it
until you do your project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor
or asenator or a Supreme Court justice -- but you might not know that until
you join studentgovernment or the debate team.
你或许能成为一名 出色的作家——甚至可能写书或在报纸上发表文章——但你可能要在完
成那篇英文课的作文后才会发现自 己的才华。你或许能成为一名创新者或发明家——甚至可
能设计出新一代iPhone或研制出新型药物 或疫苗——但你可能要在完成科学课的实验后
才会发现自己的才华。你或许能成为一名市长或参议员或最 高法院的大法官——但你可能要
在参加学生会的工作或辩论队后才会发现自己的才华。
And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you’ll ne
ed an education todo it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police offi
cer? You want to be a nurse or anarchitect, a lawyer or a member of our mil
itary? You’re going to need a good education forevery single one of those car
eers. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good ’ve got t
o train for it and work for it and learn for it.
不论你的生活志向是什么， 我敢肯定你必须上学读书才能实现它。你想当医生、教师或警官
吗？你想当护士、建筑师、律师或军人吗 ？你必须接受良好的教育，才能从事上述任何一种
职业。你不能指望辍学后能碰上个好工作。你必须接受 培训，为之努力，为之学习。
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you
make of youreducation will decide nothing less than the future of this country.
The future of Americadepends on you. What you’re learning in school today
will determine whether we as a nationcan meet our greatest challenges in th
e future.
这并非只对你个人的人生和未来意义重大。可以毫不夸大地说，教育给你带来的益处将 决定
这个国家的未来。美国的未来取决于你们。你们今日在校学习的知识将决定我们作为一个国
家是否能够迎接我们未来所面临的最严峻挑战。
You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and
math to curediseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy techn
ologies and protect ourenvironment. You’ll need the insights and critical-th
inking skills you gain in history and socialstudies to fight poverty and homel
essness, crime and discrimination, and make our nationmore fair and more
free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all yourclasses
to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
你们将需要利用你们通过自然科学和数学课程所学到的知识和 解决问题的能力来治愈癌症、
艾滋病及其他疾病，开发新的能源技术和保护我们的环境。你们将需要利用 你们在历史学和
社会学课堂上所获得的知识和独立思考能力来抗击贫困和解决无家可归问题，打击犯罪和 消
除歧视，使我们的国家更公平、更自由。你们将需要利用你们在所有课堂上培养的创造力和
智 慧来创办新公司，增加就业机会，振兴我们的经济。
We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and y
our intellect soyou can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. If
you don’t do that -- if you quiton school -- you’re not just quitting on yoursel
f, you’re quitting on your country.
我们需要你们每个人发挥你们的聪明才智和技能，以便帮助老一辈 人解决我们面临的最棘手
问题。如果你们不这样做，如果你们辍学，你们不仅仅是自暴自弃，也是抛弃自 己的国家。
Now, I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have
challenges inyour lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your scho
olwork.
我自然知道要做到 学业优秀并非总是易事。我知道你们许多人在生活中面临挑战，难以集中
精力从事学业。
I get it. I know what it’s like. My father left my family when I was two years o
ld, and I was raisedby a single mom who had to work and who struggled at ti
mes to pay the bills and wasn’t alwaysable to give us the things that other kid
s had. There were times when I missed having a fatherin my life. There were
times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn’t fit in.
我明白这一点。 我有亲身感受。两岁时，我父亲离家而去，我是由一位单亲母亲抚养成人
的， 母亲不得不工作，并时常为支付生活费用而苦苦挣扎，但有时仍无法为我们提供其他孩
子享有的东西。有 时，我渴望生活中能有一位父亲。有时我感到孤独，感到自己不适应社会。
So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been on school, and I did som
e things I’m notproud of, and I got in more trouble than I should have. And m
y life could have easily taken aturn for the worse.
我并非总是像我应该做到的那样专心学习，我也曾做过我如今不能引以为豪的一些事情，我
曾惹 过不应该惹的麻烦。我的人生原本会轻易陷入更糟糕的境地。
But I was -- I was lucky. I got a lot of second chances, and I had the opport
unity to go tocollege and law school and follow my dreams. My wife, our First
Lady Michelle Obama, she has asimilar story. Neither of her parents had gon
e to college, and they didn’t have a lot of they worked hard, and s
he worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in thiscountry.
但是，我当年际遇不错。我有过许多第 二次机会，我有幸能上大学，上法学院，追求自己的
理想。我的妻子，我们的第一夫人米歇尔?奥巴马， 也有着类似的经历。她的父母都未曾上
过大学，家里很穷。但他们非常勤奋 ，她也是如此，因此她得以进入一些美国最好的学校。
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults i
n your life whogive you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your fa
mily has lost their job andthere’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you
live in a neighborhood where you don’t feelsafe, or have friends who are pres
suring you to do things you know aren’t right.
你们中有一些人可能没有那些有利条件。或许你们生活中没有成年人为你们提供你们所需 要
的支持。或许你们家中有人失业，经济非常拮据。或许你们生活在使你们感觉不安全的社区，
或有朋友逼迫你们去做你们知道不对的事情。
But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life -- what you look like,
where you comefrom, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on
at home -- none of that is anexcuse for neglecting your homework or having
a bad attitude in school. That’s no excuse fortalking back to your teacher, or c
utting class, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse fornot trying.
然而说到底，你们生活的环 境、你们的肤色、你们的原籍、你们的经济收入、你们家中的境
况等等，这一切都不能成为你们不用功或 不努力的理由。你们没有理由不服从你们的老师、
逃学、或辍学。没有理由不付出努力。
Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No
one’s written yourdestiny for you, because here in America, you write your o
wn destiny. You make your ownfuture.
你们目前的状况并不决定着你们的未来。没有人决定你们的命运，在 美国，你们决定自己的
命运。你们掌握自己的未来。
That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
这就是像你们这样的年轻人每天都在做的事情，全美各地都是如此。
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak Engli
sh when she firststarted school. Neither of her parents had gone to college. B
ut she worked hard, earned goodgrades, and got a scholarship to Brown Univ
ersity -- is now in graduate school, studying publichealth, on her way to beco
ming Dr. Jazmin Perez.
来自得州罗马城的贾兹敏?佩雷斯（Jazmin Perez ）就是一个例证，她刚开始上学时并不
会说英文。她的父母都没有上过大学。然而，她非常勤奋，成绩优 秀，获得了布朗大学的奖
学金，她如今正在读研究生，攻读公共卫生专业，不久将成为贾兹敏?佩雷斯博 士。

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought br
ain cancer sincehe was three. He’s had to endure all sorts of treatments and
surgeries, one of which affectedhis memory, so it took him much longer -- h
undreds of extra hours -- to do his he never fell behind. He’s
headed to college this fall.

我想起了加州洛斯阿尔托斯城的安多尼?舒尔茨（Andoni S chultz），他从三岁开始就一直
与脑癌进行抗争，他不得不忍受各类治疗和手术带来的痛苦，其中 一项手术曾影响了他的记
忆，因此他花在功课上的时间比一般人长得多，要多出数百个小时。然而，他从 未落后。他
今年秋季将迈进大学。

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even
when bouncingfrom foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborho
ods in the city, she managed toget a job at a local health care center, start a
program to keep young people out of gangs, andshe’s on track to graduate hi
gh school with honors and go on to college.

我还想起家乡伊利诺伊州芝加哥市的尚特尔?史蒂夫（Shantell Steve）。她曾在芝加哥最
困难的社区生活，寄养于多个不同的家庭，但她最终在一家地方医疗中心 找到工作，并开始
了一项帮助年轻人远离流氓团伙的计划，她即将以优异成绩从中学毕业，紧接着将上大 学。

And Jazmin, Andoni, and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They f
ace challenges intheir lives just like you do. In some cases they’ve got it a lot
worse off than many of you. Butthey refused to give up. They chose to take r
esponsibility for their lives, for their education, andset goals for themselves. A
nd I expect all of you to do the same.

贾兹敏、安多尼和尚特尔与你们中间的每个人没什么两样。跟你们一样，他们在 生活中面临
种种挑战。在某些情况下，他们的处境比起你们许多人更差。但他们拒绝放弃。他们决定要< br>为自己的一生、自己的教育负起责任，为自己设定各项奋斗目标。我期待你们大家都会这样
做。

That’s why today I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your ed
ucation -- and doeverything you can to meet them. Your goal can be somethi
ng as simple as doing all yourhomework, paying attention in class, or spendin
g some time each day reading a book. Maybeyou’ll decide to get involved in a
n extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your you’ll dec
ide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who theya
re or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all young people des
erve a safeenvironment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take bett
er care of yourself so you canbe more ready to learn. And along those lines, b
y the way, I hope all of you are washing yourhands a lot, and that you stay h
ome from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keeppeople from getting
the flu this fall and winter.

因此，我今天呼吁你们每一个人为自己的教育设定目标，并尽自己的最大努 力来实现这些目
标。你的目标可以是一件十分简单的事情，例如完成家庭作业、上课专心听讲、或每天花 一
点时间读一本书。也许你会决定要参加课外活动或在你的社区提供志愿服务。也许你会决定
挺 身而出保护那些因为身份或长相而受人戏弄或欺负的孩子，原因是你和我一样认为所有的
年轻人都应该享 有一个适合读书和学习的安全环境。也许你会决定更好地照料自己，以便有
更充沛的精力来学习。顺便提 一下，除了这些事情外，我希望大家要勤洗手，身体感到不舒
服的时候要呆在家里不去上学，这样我们能 防止人们在今年秋冬季节染上流感。

But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to re
ally work at it.

但无论你决定做什么，我希望你保证去做。我希望你脚踏实地地去做。

I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and s
uccessful withoutany hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rappi
ng or basketball or being a realityTV star. Chances are you’re not going to be
any of those things.

我知道有时候你会从电视上得到这样 的印象：你不用做任何艰苦的工作就能发财致富并取得
成功，唱小调、打篮球或成为真人秀明星是走向成 功的途径。但实际情况是：你可能不会成
为其中的一员。
The truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject that you st
udy. You won’tclick with every teacher that you have. Not every homework a
ssignment will seem completelyrelevant to your life right at this minute. An
d you won’t necessarily succeed at everything thefirst time you try.
事实上，取得成功不是轻而易举的事情。你不会喜欢你学习的每一门课目。你不会与 你的每
一位老师都很投契。不是所有的家庭作业似乎都与你眼前的生活完全有关。你第一次尝试做
每件事的时候，不一定成功。
That’s okay. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones wh
o’ve had themost failures. J.K. Rowling’s -- who wrote Harry Potter -- her first
Harry Potter book wasrejected 12 times before it was finally published. Micha
el Jordan was cut from his high schoolbasketball team. He lost hundreds of ga
mes and missed thousands of shots during his he once said,
“I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that’s why Isuccee
d.”

这些都没关系。世界上最成功的人士中有一些是遭遇失败最 多的人。作者J?K?罗琳
（J.K. Rowling）所写的系列小说《哈利?波特》（Harry Potter）第一部在获得出版之前
被退稿12次。迈克尔?乔丹（MichaelJordan）曾 被他的高中篮球队除名。在乔丹的篮球
生涯中，他输过数百场比赛，有成千上万个球没有投中。但他曾说 过：“在我的一生中，我
失败了一次又一次、一次又一次。这就是我成功的原因。”

These people succeeded because they understood that you can’t let your failu
res define you --you have to let your failures teach you. You have to let the
m show you what to do differentlythe next time. So if you get into trouble, th
at doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it meansyou need to try harder to act
right. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, itjust means y
ou need to spend more time studying.
这些人士获得成功，因为他 们懂得：你不能让失败来限制你，而必须让失败来开导你。你必
须让失败向你展示下次如何以不同的方式 去做这件事情。因此，如果你遇到麻烦，那并不表
示你是麻烦的制造者，而意味着你需要更加努力去把它 做对。如果你有一门课分数低，那不
表示你比别人笨，而只表示你需要花更多的时间学习。
No one’s born being good at all things. You become good at things through ha
rd work. You’renot a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You
don’t hit every note the first timeyou sing a song. You’ve got to practice. The
same principle applies to your schoolwork. Youmight have to do a math prob
lem a few times before you get it right. You might have to readsomething a fe
w times before you understand it. You definitely have to do a few drafts of a
paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

没有一个人天生擅长做各种事情。你通过勤奋而变得擅长于各种事情。第 一次从事新的体育
项目时，你不可能是一位主力队员。第一次唱一首歌曲时，你不可能唱准每个音。你必 须练
习。同样的道理适用于你的学业。你可能要把一道数学题做几次才把它做对。你可能要把一
些材料阅读几遍才能理解。在交出一篇优美的作文之前，你肯定需要打几遍草稿。
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you nee
d it. I do thatevery day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign o
f strength because it showsyou have the courage to admit when you don’t kn
ow something, and that then allows you tolearn something new. So find an ad
ult that you trust -- a parent, a grandparent or teacher, acoach or a counsel
or -- and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

不要害怕提问。不要在需要帮助时 害怕请求别人帮助。我天天请求别人的帮助。请求帮助不
是软弱的表现，它是力量的标志，因为它表明你 有勇气承认自己对某些事情不懂，这样做会
使你学到新的东西。因此，请确定一位你信任的成年人，例如 家长、祖父母或老师、教练或
辅导员，请他们帮助你遵循既定计划实现你的目标。

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel
like other peoplehave given up on you, don’t ever give up on yourself, becau
se when you give up on yourself,you give up on your country.

即使当 你苦苦挣扎、灰心丧气、感到其他人对你不抱希望时，也不要对你自己丧失信心，因
为当你自暴自弃时， 你也抛弃了自己的国家。

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s a
bout people whokept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too mu
ch to do anything less than theirbest.

书写美国历史的不是在困 难时刻退缩的人，而是坚持不懈、加倍努力的人，他们对国家的爱
促使他们全力以赴。

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on t
o wage arevolution and they founded this nation. Young people. Students w
ho sat where you sit 75years ago who overcame a Depression and won a worl
d war; who fought for civil rights and puta man on the moon. Students who s
at where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google andTwitter and Facebook
and changed the way we communicate with each other.

书写美国历史的是250年前坐在你们的位置上的学生 ，他们后来进行了独立战争并创建了
这个国家。还有75年前坐在你们的位置上的年轻人和学生，他们走 出了大萧条并打赢了一
场世界大战；他们为民权而奋斗并把宇航员送上了月球。至于20年前坐在你们的 位置上的
学生，他们创办了谷歌（Google）、叽喳网（Twitter）和脸谱网（Facebo ok），改变了
我们交流沟通的方式。

So today, I want to ask all of you, what’s your contribution going to be? Wh
at problems areyou going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What wil
l a President who comes here in20 or 50 or 100 years say about what all of yo
u did for this country?

而今天，我要问问你们大家，你们将做出什么贡献？你们将解决什么问题 ？你们将有什么发
现？20年、50年或100年后来到这里讲话的总统将会怎样评价你们大家为这个国 家所做
的一切？

Now, your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make
sure you have theeducation you need to answer these questions. I’m workin
g hard to fix up your classrooms andget you the books and the equipment an
d the computers you need to learn. But you’ve got todo your part, too. So I e
xpect all of you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your besteffort int
o everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us d
’t let your family down or your country down. Most of all, don’t let yo
urself down. Make usall proud.

你们的家 人、你们的老师和我正在竭尽全力保证你们接受必要的教育，以便回答上述问题。
我正在努力工作，以便 你们的教室得到修缮，你们能够得到学习所需的课本、设备和电脑。
但你们也必须尽自己的努力。因此， 我希望你们大家从今年起认真对待这个问题。我希望你
们尽最大努力做好每一件事。我希望你们每个人都 有出色的表现。不要让我们失望。不要让
你们的家人或你们的国家失望。而最重要的是，不要辜负你们自 己，而要让我们都能[为你
们]感到骄傲。
Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. God bless America. Thank y
ou. (Applause.)

非常感谢你们大家。愿主保佑你们。愿主保佑美国。谢谢你们。（掌声）